such of her nephews as should be under a devise in her said will before contained, entitled to any beneficial share in a certain estate, and C. S., as well as the other specified persons, were at the date of her will so entitled under a description which then applied to them, but which subsequently ceased to apply to C. S. Held, that for the purpose of letting him in to a full share, "and" might be read as "or." Stubbs v. Sargon, 2 Keen, 255.

2. (Construction-income of legacy.) Where residuary property was bequeathed to a woman to be paid to her at twenty-five, with a proviso that it should be put in settlement if she married before that time, but there was no gift over in the event of her dying before that time: Held, that upon her attaining twentyone, and being unmarried, she was entitled to the income of the legacy. Grant v. Grant, 3 Y. & C. 171.

II. DIGEST OF AMERICAN CASES.

Principal cases in 7 Watts (Pennsylvania); 18 Wendell (New York); 2 Shepley (Maine); and 201 Pickering (Massachusetts).

ACKNOWLEDGMENT. (Proof of character of officer.) If the magisterial character of the officer who takes the acknowledg ment of a deed be not set out in the body of it, it may be supplied by proof aliunde. A copy of the justice's commission, certified by the recorder of deeds, is competent evidence for that purpose. Bennet v. Paine, 7 Watts, 334. ACTION. (Debt secured by specialty.) An action of assumpsit

will not lie upon an express promise to pay a debt secured by specialty, or other security of a higher nature, although an account be settled between the parties, and a balance struck. But if other matters of account between the parties be blended with

1 The 18th and 19th volumes of Pickering's Reports have not yet been published. See Am. Jur. vol. xviii. p. 529.

the settlement of that which arose out of the specialty, an action of assumpsit will lie upon an express promise to pay the balance due. Gilson v. Stewart, 7 Watts, 100.

2. (Unlawful Contract.) A contract founded upon a promise and engagement to procure signatures and obtain a pardon from the governor, for one convicted of a criminal offence and sentenced to punishment, is unlawful, and cannot be enforced by an action. Hatzfield v. Gulden, 7 Watts, 152.

3. (Retrospective laws affecting.) The legislature, provided it does not violate the constitutional prohibitions, may pass retrospective laws, such as in their operation may affect suits pending, and give to a party a remedy which he did not previously possess, or modify an existing remedy, or remove an impediment in the way of recovering redress by legal proceedings. Hepburn v. Curts, 7 Watts, 300.

4. (Abduction.) A plaintiff in loco parentis may maintain an action on the case per quod servitium amisit, for an abduction of his daughter's illegitimate offspring. Moritz v. Ganhart, 7 Watts, 302.

5. (On Mortgage.) An action of debt will not lie upon a mortgage, which contains no express covenant to pay, and therefore creates no personal responsibility. Scott v. Fields, 7 Watts, 360. ACTION OF ASSUMPSIT. (Performance of contract by third person.) Where one has bound himself to another by bond to furnish him with support, but neglects to perform his duty in that respect; and the support is furnished by a third person at the request of the obligee; the law will imply no promise in favor of such third person to recover the value of such support against the obligor. Moody v. Moody, 2 Shepley, 307. ADMIRALTY. (Jurisdiction of.) The judgment of a court of admiralty, upon a libel filed against the master of a vessel by one of the crew, complaining of an assault and battery and imprisonment alleged to have been committed on the high seas, is not a bar to an action by the mariner against the master in a court of common law, for an assault and battery and imprison

ment on shore in a foreign port in the course of the voyage. Adams v. Haffards, 20 Pick. 127.

Ib.

2. (Same.) In such action, the fact of the mariner's being found on shore by the mate, and imprisoned by him, in pursuance of orders given upon the high seas by the master, was considered to be immaterial; and an instruction to the jury, that if any part of the acts which constituted this trespass and imprisonment was committed by the defendant on board the vessel, the court of admiralty might hold jurisdiction of the plaintiff's complaint, was held to be erroneous. ALIEN. (Grant of estate of by legislature.) An alien having purchased land in 1809, and died in 1812, without having been naturalized, and without having made the declaration required by the act of congress preparatory to becoming a citizen, his estate escheated to the commonwealth, which had power in 1814, without office found, to vest the same in the widow of the deceased alien. Rubeck v. Gardner, 7 Watts, 455. 2. (Tenant by the curtesy.) An alien husband who makes the preliminary declaration of his intention to become a citizen, before the death of his wife, and completes his naturalization after her death, is not entitled to her land as tenant by the curtesy. Foss v. Crisp, 20 Pick. 121. ASSIGNEE. (Payment of a preferred debt by.) An assignee, under a voluntary deed for the benefit of creditors, is not justified in paying a preferred debt, without other evidence of its existence than the assignment; and if it be shown, upon the settlement of his account, that no such debt existed, the credit for its payment will be disallowed. Stevenson's assignees, 7 Watts, 480. ASSIGNMENT. (Fraudulent assignee.) by an intestate is set aside in a court of tion of his administrator, on the ground that it was made to defraud his creditors, and the whole of the property assigned is required for the payment of the creditors, the fraudulent assignee will not be allowed to deduct and retain the amount of the consideration paid by him for the assignment. Holland v. Cruft, 20 Pick. 321.

Where an assignment equity, on the applica

2. (Same-transfer by.) And in regard to such assignment, trustees, to whom the fraudulent assignee has transferred his property for the payment of his creditors, cannot be deemed innocent purchasers for a valuable consideration, and cannot stand on a better footing than the fraudulent assignee himself. Ib.

ASSUMPSIT. (Mutual agreements.) Where there are mutual covenants or agreements, and by the terms of the contract, performance in full on the one part is to precede payment on the other, an action will not lie for a part performance; and it was accordingly held, in this case, where a contract was made for the sale and delivery, within a given period, of one hundred tons of pressed hay, to be paid for at a specified price per ton, part in advance and the residue when the whole quantity should be delivered, and the vendor, within the time stipulated, delivered only about one half of the specified quantity, and then brought his action to recover for the quantity delivered, at the stipulated price, that the delivery of the whole quantity was a condition precedent, and that the plaintiff was not entitled to sustain his action: the defendant on his part not having waived or prevented a full performance. Champlin v. Rowley, 18 Wend. 187.

ATTORNEY AT LAW. (Evidence of.) The rule, which excludes the proof of communications made by a client to his counsel, is confined to cases in which the client is interested. Hamilton v. Neel, 7 Watts, 517.

ATTORNEY IN FACT. (Construction of power-Execution of deed by.) A power of attorney "to ask, demand, sue for, recover and receive all such sum or sums of money, debts, dues, accounts, and other demands whatsoever, which are or shall be due, owing, payable, and belonging to us, or detained from us by any manner of ways or means whatsoever," &c., will not authorize the attorney to compound for, receive, and release, a sum of money which is not due and payable.

In the execution of a deed by one person for another, under a power of attorney, the name of the principal must be used in

some form or other, in order to its validity. Heffernan v. Addams, 7 Watts, 116.

BEQUEST. (Delivery of by executor.) The assent of an executor to the delivery of a specific bequest of goods or chattels to the legatee, may be either express or implied: the law has prescribed no particular form of delivery. Thus, if the executor separates certain articles of property and declares them to be for the legatee, it is such a delivery as will enable the latter to maintain trover for them. Dimond v. M'Dowell, 7 Watts, 510.

All contracts or pro

BETTING. (On the event of an election.) mises depending upon a bet on the result of an election are null and void ingenuity cannot invent any mode of evidencing such contract, so that it can be enforced by law.

ring, 7 Watts, 294.

Lloyd v. Leisen

2. (Same.) The statute against betting on elections was intended to avoid all bets paid or unpaid, and to suppress any thing connected with the subject; it cannot, therefore, be eluded by an appended agreement which would give to an actual wager the similitude of something else. Wagonseller v. Snyder, 7 Watts, 343.

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BILLS OF EXCHANGE AND PROMISSORY NOTES. (Alteration.) Where a note payable to order was indorsed in blank by four individuals, and afterwards the second indorser, being then the holder of the note, wrote above all the names the words we waive all notice on the promisor and ourselves, and guaranty the payment at all events," without the assent or knowledge of an after indorser; it was held, that such after indorser was thereby discharged. Farmer v. Rand, 2 Shepley, 225. 2. (Assignment.) An order or draft for a part only of a debt due from the drawee to the drawer, does not, against the consent of the drawee, amount to an assignment, for the debtor is not to be subjected to distinct demands on the part of several persons, when his contract was one and entire. Gibson v. Cooke, 20 Pick. 15.

3. (Same.) Thus, where a person entitled to quarterly payments